Game Development: Starting with Recreating the Anime Game Style

Chapter 547 The storm is coming
JPMorgan Chase?
Leng Zefeng almost thought he had misheard.

Are you sure it's that J.P. Morgan?

"Yes, Mr. Leng, it's absolutely true." The secretary's tone was very certain. "The report has been released through their official channels and is now being widely reprinted by major financial and gaming media outlets."

Why would an investment bank come here to write a report on the gaming industry? Are they crazy, or are we crazy?

Regardless of who was really crazy, Leng Zefeng's expression quickly turned serious. He subconsciously stood up, left the noisy VIP area, and walked quickly to a relatively quiet corner.

"What is the title of the report? Briefly describe its main content."

On stage, Ma Huateng's street dance performance reached its climax, and the cheers from the audience grew louder and louder. However, Leng Zefeng's mind was entirely focused on the receiver.

The title is "Investment Risk Assessment of China's Game Market Under the Impact of Stars".

The secretary's voice came through the receiver.

"The report's core argument is that, given the meteoric rise of Star Studio and its demonstrated strong R&D capabilities, the existing landscape of the Chinese game market is facing severe turmoil. Investors are advised to carefully evaluate their investments in Chinese game concept stocks, especially Tencent, over the next year."

"Bullshit!" Leng Zefeng couldn't help but mutter under his breath.

This headline and this tone practically scream "I'm going to get you!"

It is highly unusual for an investment bank report to use such inflammatory language.

Normally, such reports would use a lot of neutral and objective language, but this title is even more eye-catching than that of a third-rate gaming media outlet.

Leng Zefeng's mind was racing.

He realized almost immediately that this was clearly a targeted short-selling attack by JPMorgan Chase against Tencent.

This situation is actually quite common in the capital market. For a company the size of Tencent, such short-selling attacks may have some effect, but the effect will not be very significant.

The problem is that ordinary people don't understand what "short selling" or "capital games" means, but they can understand the weight that the name "JPMorgan Chase" represents.

In the previous life, a game called "Dust White Forbidden Zone" was mentioned only briefly in a report by JPMorgan Chase, and it was then widely reported by players and the media.

Moreover, this is a special report specifically targeting the Chinese game market.

What else was mentioned in the report?

Leng Zefeng pressed for details, sensing that things were far from simple.

"Two were mentioned... you could call it a revelation."

The secretary's tone also became serious.

The report explicitly states that, according to their sources, Valve's Steam platform will soon partner with Perfect World to officially launch a Chinese version. Additionally, Epic Games is also about to launch its own PC gaming platform.

What the secretary didn't say was that the report's popularity was directly related to these two revelations.

Although the report stated that these two revelations were intended to demonstrate the volatile nature of the global gaming market and to remind investors to be cautious, the report writers considered this to be a perfectly normal occurrence.

They often present a viewpoint and then gather as much data and information as possible to support it—that's their usual tactic. But for Leng Zefeng, this report dealt a real blow.

The saying "three men can make a tiger" applies to many stories. Since Xingchen announced its revenue at the end-of-year Qiongzhou Conference, coupled with a series of questionable actions, some media outlets have already suggested that "next year will be a crucial year for Xingchen to surpass Tencent."

Even though Tencent announced its total revenue of 2377 billion yuan in 2017, with 978 billion yuan from its gaming business, maintaining its position as the world's largest gaming company, it couldn't stop this claim.
Now even JPMorgan Chase has jumped in to get involved.

They won't even let people celebrate the New Year!
~~~
February 15, 2018, the day before the Spring Festival.

As the year draws to a close, this should be the calmest period in the gaming industry, according to past practice.

Major manufacturers have already implemented their Spring Festival promotional plans, released necessary version updates, and gone home as planned. The media is also in a semi-holiday state, publishing "old news" prepared before the new year.

This year's Spring Festival film season in the gaming industry was quite lively, even more so than the Lunar New Year films.

First, several videos of the annual meeting went viral online.

On one hand, at the Starry Sky Annual Party, Chu Chen, the billionaire boss, was wearing a comical panda headgear and wildly dancing on the beach. He was eventually teased by his employees to change the song to "King of Love Songs," which left him exhausted and collapsed on the spot, prompting a wave of comments online like "Hahaha, Brother Chen, even you have your day!"

On the other side, at Tencent's annual meeting, Ma Huateng, dressed in a hip-hop outfit, with gold chains, sunglasses, and an oversized hoodie, danced street dance surrounded by professional backup dancers.

The stage effects were top-notch, but netizens' comments carried a subtle hint of mockery: "Mr. Ma tried his best, but it looks like I'm being forced to perform in front of my relatives."

However, before the buzz surrounding these gossip stories had died down, a report from an investment bank across the ocean, like a depth charge, detonated a massive wave beneath the seemingly calm surface of the Chinese gaming industry.

"The wolf is coming! JPMorgan Chase is pessimistic about Tencent, and the Chinese game market may be reshuffled!"—This is the kind of self-media that loves to grab attention, stuffing ten exclamation marks into its headlines.

"In-depth analysis: Steam enters China, EPIC enters the market, EA, Ubisoft, Rockstar all reiterate platform strategies, is the PC game platform war entering a Warring States period?" - This is an industry observation media with a little depth, which has already begun to build a grand narrative framework.

"A must-read for gamers! Is your Steam account okay? What does the launch of the Chinese server mean for us?" — This is a community media outlet that truly understands gamers' anxieties.
Suddenly, a storm was brewing.

The most vehement reaction came from the massive Steam user base in China.

"Oh no, Steam is really going to be blocked! What will happen to my game library?"

"Wanmei World acting as the agent? Look at the DOTA2 and CSGO they're handling—censorship, lag, terrible servers—they're trying to kill us legitimate players!"

"I'd rather use a VPN every day than have a stripped-down version of the 'Steam platform'!"

"Brothers, hurry up and spend all the money in your wallets, stock up on games, who knows what the future holds."

Steam's idea is good; entering the Chinese market can bring them closer to players. However, the problem is that Steam didn't consider the PTSD that Chinese players have developed over the past decade or so due to various "special editions" and "censored versions."

Fortunately, Wanmei quickly stepped forward.

In response to public opinion, both Steam and Wanmei wrote lengthy statements.

Actually, it's not a big deal for Magnesium to write a long essay; domestic operators love writing long essays. But it's interesting that Steam is following suit.

At the very least, this proves that Steam attaches unprecedented importance to the Chinese market.

(End of this chapter)